Trail Monster Running

Visit the official TRAIL MONSTER RUNNING website for information on upcoming group runs, local trails, trail races and more, including the Pineland Farms Trail Running Festival and the Bradbury Mountain trail Running Series.

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Freeport 15

Sunday I needed to make up for Saturday's screw-up of a run, but with more snow and not a lot of time I ruled out exploring snowmobile trails. I wanted to get in 15 miles and that's just about how far it is from my house to my parents, and since I needed to go over there anyway it made sense to run (and have Emma come meet me). I didn't get out the door until almost 2:00 so I knew I had to run fast enough to get there before it got too dark. It would not be a good idea to be out on the roads during a snow storm after dark.

Apart from a little tightness in my right achilles, leftover from my "sprained" ankle a week ago, everything was feeling pretty good and the achilles loosened up after about a mile. Snow was falling steadily but the temperature was very comfortable and I was enjoying the run. There was a thick coating of snow/slush on the road shoulder which I had to do most of my running in to stay out of traffic. This slowed me down a little but kinda made it feel more like I was running off road which I consider a good thing.

The first 4 miles went by quickly but there was a gradual uphill theme to the next 5 miles that started to wear me down a bit. I didn't slow by much but I definitely felt like I was putting in a lot of effort to stay below an 8 minute pace. The last 6 miles is a subtle roller coaster so my splits were all over the place but I was still making good progress. I started to get concerned about making to my parents house before it got dark so I made sure not to let up too much on the uphills.

It turned out to be just under 15 miles to my parents house and for a few moments I considered going out a bit longer to bring it up to an even 15 but by now it had started to rain, I was wet, it was getting dark and I felt ready to stop. I'm going to attempt to run 50k next weekend with the fine folks of the GAC, but based on how this run felt I don't think I'm quite ready for that distance. I've been slacking since Stone Cat and I need to get back into the rhythm of training. If I don't manage the whole distance at the Fat Ass next weekend I'll need to find another opportunity later in the month to get in an ultra-distance training run.